Legal Question in Landlord & Tenant Law in Louisiana

residency/property rights

My grandmother has let a friend who has fallen on hard times move in with her for free ''temporarily'' until she finds a job. She has now been there for over a year and doesn't seem to be even looking for a job. She seems content to do nothing and let my grandmother provide for her. We are thinking of setting up a timetable for her to leave. My question is if she continues to stay with my grandmother for much longer will she have any legal rights to any of my grandmother's property? I guess I'm asking if she can ''homestead'' in her house and have any legal rights to the house or any property if she continues to stay?


Asked on 5/27/09, 11:33 am

1 Answer from Attorneys
Adam Lambert The Law Office of Adam S. Lambert

Re: residency/property rights

No. Being a long-term guest does not create any right of occupancy and certainly does not create any ownership interest.

If she has been paying rent, the situation could be seen as a verbal month-to-month lease. If it is a verbal lease, either side can cancel the lease with 10 day's notice. In other words, she would be entitled to notice on or before the 20th (or 21st, depending on the month) that the month-to-month lease is not being renewed for another month. If she fails to leave after that, you can file for eviction and have the constable remove her and place her things on the street. If that is the case, do not accept ANY rent after you give the notice to vacate.

That assumes she has some verbal lease (e.g., is paying some form of rent). If she has no lease, she can be removed at any time by calling the police and having her removed as a trespasser.

Be forewarned that if she has been staying there a while, the police may be hesitant to simply remove her without filing eviction first. While they legally should simply remove and/or arrest the trespasser, police love to call things "a civil matter" and refuse to make trespassers of that nature leave.

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Answered on 5/27/09, 1:27 pm


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